


In Luck

by tii_puu



Category: Natsume Yuujinchou | Natsume's Book of Friends
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-11
Updated: 2017-02-11
Packaged: 2018-09-23 12:33:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 756
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9657671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tii_puu/pseuds/tii_puu
Summary: Something is bothering Takashi.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Fill for the 'Curses' square in my Genprompt Bingo card.
> 
> This is set in an AU where Takashi's mother still dies, but Reiko doesn't and Takashi lives with her.

Takashi and his grandmother are the only two people on the raised pathway cutting across the rice fields, under a sky streaked with frayed clouds in all shades of grey. The sun hovers just above the line of the horizon, like a giant orange spilling its light all over the fields, the woods and the hills. 

Reiko meets him every afternoon where the town gives way to the countryside, so that they can walk the rest of the way to their small house together. That makes Takashi happy, normally, but today he can't bring himself to smile. He can't even bring himself to look at his grandmother, and doesn't pay any attention to the landscape and the flocks of birds dancing over the fields. 

“What is it?” Reiko asks, turning towards him, her voice gentle, gentler than it is with anyone else.

Takashi stops and shakes his head. Without thinking, Reiko kneels down in the dirt in front of him and studies his face, even as he tries to sink it inside the thick muffler wrapped around his neck. 

“What is the matter?”

Takashi worries his lower lip, but after several grimaces he lifts his head just enough to meet his grandmother's gaze, frowning, and mutters: “did...did Mother die because of me? Because I -...bring bad luck?”

Reiko flinches. “Who said that?” 

“...the boys at school. They said my mother died because I'm a weird child and I caused her to die right after I was born.”

Reiko huffs. She heard all manner of gossip and malicious talk about her when she was younger – and she still does, at times – it was useless to hope that Takashi would be spared people's barbs. She reminds herself that unlike her, he isn't alone. She will do whatever it takes to protect him, to make sure he never feels as lonely as she did. She carefully wipes the tears that threaten to spill from his eyes, and tries not to show the anger that starts simmering inside her. 

“That's not true. Your mother died of a illness. A stupid, commonplace illness.” She clasps both of Takashi's hands, giving them a comforting squeeze, then holds them gently in hers. “When you are older you will learn about it.”

“So we aren't cursed?” 

“Of course not. Besides, even if we had been...a curse is not a permanent thing, I would have found a way to break it.”

“Then why can we see youkai? Isn't that a curse?”

“I'm not sure, but it's certainly not a curse. The things is, not all youkai are so terrible. There are decent ones, less good ones and very bad ones...more or less as it happens with humans. I have a couple of youkai friends too.”

For the first time in the afternoon, Takashi perks up. “Friends?”

Reiko grins and rocks his hands. “Well, one is more of a...staunch admirer. She's a female youkai, no less. And the other is a presumptuous snot, but he's kinder than he likes to let on.”

The descriptions seem to puzzle Takashi. A myriad questions floats over his face, but in the end he simply asks: “Can I meet them?”

Reiko's grin turns into a genuine smile, and the creases of worry smooth from her face, where actual wrinkles are still faint and sparse, as if age were afraid to leave its mark on it. “I think it'll be inevitable.”

She gives Takashi a kiss on each cheek before climbing back up to her feet. She spares just a moment to wipe the mud sticking to her trousers, and bends again to pick Takashi up. 

“Don't pay any attention to the mean things your classmates tell you. You are a wonderful child, and I love you more than anybody else.”

Takashi circles her neck with his hands, and nods. They start down the path again. The sun is about to disappear behind the hills, and a chilly breeze blows over the fields carrying the scent late-winter snow. Reiko's nose scrunches against the cold, she narrows her eyes as if in deep thought and stops all of a sudden. 

“I know!” she exclaims, whirling around so fast it makes Takashi's head spin. “We'll have nabe tonight. I'll let you pick the ingredients, what do you say?”

Reiko can barely cook, and it takes her longer than strictly necessary to fix even the simplest of dishes, but Takashi wouldn't exchange what she cooks for him for anything else. He beams, and gives her a kiss on the cheek.


End file.
